The Gospel of Luke
Chapter 17
The section of this book that is called “The Travel Section,” stretches from Luke 9:51 to Luke 19:27. At first, the events seemed to be organized in thematic units, but here the themes seem to stop. This gives us the sense that events are speeding up, that the closer Jesus got to Jerusalem, the faster He worked with His disciples. At any event, this chapter contains three separate sections, each in a different time and place.
Being Dedicated Disciples—Luke 17:1-10
Jesus opened with a warning to His disciples. Certainly it is inevitable that temptations will occur and many people will fall into sin because of the temptations that are presented to them. They bear responsibility for their own sins—but so do those who introduce them to the temptations. Anyone who leads another into sin makes himself liable to punishment so terrifying that it would actually be an advantage to have committed suicide first! The “little ones” Jesus referred to might be nearby children or new and tender followers of Christ. Either way, the warning is not for “those people,” but for the disciples of Jesus who will shortly have the responsibility to teach and lead the church in the way she should go.
Jesus continued with a call for the disciples to be forgiving people. His requirement in this, though, was so overwhelming that the disciples begged Him to grant them stronger faith so that they might be able to do this. In reply, Jesus used two proverbial statements to indicate that very small faith could work seemingly impossible tasks. A mustard seed was proverbial as the smallest of seeds and a mulberry tree was proverbial for being permanent and immovable. One rabbi was recorded to say that the roots of a mulberry tree remained in the soil for 600 years! Once we understand Jesus’ figures of speech, the meaning of His reply comes clear to us.
After this, though, Jesus continued with an illustration reminding the disciples of their servanthood. Their faith would result in seemingly impossible results when the church began to spread and people obeyed the gospel. The danger then would be for them to think of themselves as deserving of special privileges and acclaim. In fact, they would be doing exactly what they were expected to do as servants of the Lord. All servants of Christ must remember that they owe Him their dedicated service all the time. We are His servants; He is not our slave.
A Living Illustration of Grace—Luke 17:11-19
In a separate incident, Jesus in His travels passed along the border between Samaria and Galilee. Near an unnamed village, He was met by a group of lepers, outcasts forced to live outside human society because of their terrible and terrifying condition. Such people were required to warn others that they were unclean and to keep their distance for fear of transmitting the disease. These men stood and called out to Jesus, begging Him to have pity on them. From their appeal, it is impossible to know certainly whether they were begging for healing or for material generosity. They did not call Him “rabbi” or “Lord,” even in a customary sense. They called Him, “boss,” using a word that showed His authority as overseer or superintendant.
Jesus did not go to them or touch them or even pray for them. He merely told them to go to the priests. In every village there would be priests who were charged with teaching the Law and distinguishing the clean from the unclean. Part of their duties would be to pronounce formerly unclean
people “clean” when their condition changed. This freed the subjects to resume their normal positions in the town and society. It allowed them to regain a life.
In response to Jesus’ command, all ten turned and went toward the town. They were already cleansed, but nine continued on their way while one returned in overwhelming joy to thank Jesus for His mercy. Jesus ruefully commented that although all had been healed, the only one to show gratitude was a Samaritan! He then commended the man’s faith and urged him to go on with his life.
It is probably uncharitable to conclude that the other nine were ungrateful for their healing. It is more likely that they demonstrated the common Jewish idea about God’s care. They presumed they were saved because of their obedience to Jesus’ command instead of their faith in doing His will and experiencing His grace. In their minds it was more important to fulfill the exact requirements He demanded—showing themselves to the priests—so that they might be healed. By contrast, the Samaritan realized he was already healed, so he was free to express his great gratitude for the healing. He had time to hear the priest’s pronouncement later. It seems that this incident demonstrates the difference in thinking between those who believe their blessing depends on their performance and those who believe their blessing depends on God’s grace. There is a warning here for us. Our redemption from God is not something granted to us solely on the condition of our obedience to His requirements, but rather a matter of His grace that leads us to gratefully and joyously obey Him.
The Kingdom of God with Power—Luke 17:20-37
In yet a separate incident, Luke tells us some Pharisees inquired of Jesus about the coming of the kingdom of God. Naturally, they were looking forward to a spectacular conqueror who would expel the hated foreigners from the Holy Land and restore the perfection of Eden. In reply, Jesus plainly stated to them that the kingdom of God was something that resided in each human being, not in a place or time on the earth.
The Pharisees had no idea what they were actually asking, for their conception of God’s kingdom was nothing at all like God’s actual reign. They were like the ancient Israelites who longed for “the Day of the Lord,” little thinking it would be the day of their doom (Amos 5:18-19). And they did not consider that asking Jesus a “when” question was completely meaningless to the God who is not bound by time or space. They truly did not understand what they were asking Him about.
Jesus then turned to His disciples to instruct them more carefully. He knew that shortly they would be devastated at the loss of His continual presence and they must not be swayed by liars who would claim He had returned. In fact, when Jesus returns it will be sudden and obvious to the entire world at one instant—when time becomes utterly irrelevant. But before such an event could possibly take place, Jesus had to fulfill His purpose in redemption.
Jesus went on to tell them that His return would be as unheralded as some of the greatest catastrophes in history. People were going about their daily business with no idea that doom was breaking upon them. In the same way, thoughtless souls will be engaged in normal activities when the heavens will crack and the Lord will descend. All material goods will be seen to be useless and worthless and the only thing that will matter will be whether a person has given his or her life to the Lord. The closest relationships will be severed along discipleship lines—if a person is a Christian, he or she will be saved to eternity; if a person rejected Christ, he or she will be eternally left. When the puzzled disciples asked where such people would be left, Jesus answered with a dark saying about the destiny of the abandoned dead. Obviously, the Day of the Lord will be absolutely unexpected and an eternal separation between people.